DURHAM — The Oyster River High School boys hockey team had already tied four times in 2013. They probably would have liked a fifth one after the way Saturday’s game ended.

Visiting Bow scored with 25 seconds remaining in overtime to break a scoreless tie and beat the Bobcats 1-0 in a Division II matinee at the Whittemore Center.

“Our goalie and our team defense has been playing really well,” Oyster River coach Griff Richard said. “We just need to start putting the puck in the net. We need to focus on getting shots on goal, (and) stop trying to be so pretty.”

Bow’s Michael Fanaras took a centering feed from Jake Rand and popped it past Oyster River goalie Brennan Young, ending Young’s bid for his first shutout of the season.

“They brought it out from behind the net and put it right in,” Young said.

The Falcon goal came on a brief lapse for a team that was tired of skating to ties, and might have been trying too hard to score the game-winner. It was a tough break for a defense that had played strong all afternoon.

“I think we were thinking offense the whole time,” said Young, who made 16 saves. “That hurt us. That’s not to say they gave up or anything. Our defense absolutely played a good game.”

“It’s never easy to win here,” said Bow coach Tim Walsh, who played his college hockey at the Whitt as a member of the University of New Hampshire men’s team from 1996-2000. “And it always seems to come down to a game like this. The kids competed until the end. Our kids kept going until there was 25 seconds left.”

It was Oyster River’s first D-II loss since Dec. 22, when it fell 5-0 at home to division-leading Merrimack. The Bobcats began the calendar year with four straight 1-1 ties, then had won three straight for a seven-game unbeaten streak.

“I think both teams were a little tired at the end,” Richard said. “They had momentum and some adrenaline in the tank. (We) had just shaken off three penalties in a row. We got back in the game, but we didn’t catch a momentum swing.”

Oyster River fell to 5-3-4 on the season while Bow improved to 7-3-2. It was a key game for two teams fighting for one of the top four spots in the division. The top four earn a bye in the upcoming state tournament, which is expanded to 12 teams from eight last year.

Bow outshot the Bobcats 17-15, although Oyster River held a 3-2 shot advantage in the extra frame.

“We just came out thinking offense,” said Oyster River senior forward and co-captain Patrick McDonough. “We played a solid game all day, and we were exhausted. We know how to play tired, and thought we could use that to our advantage, but we just didn’t come out really thinking defense at the end.”

Oyster River could not catch a break in the penalty department, and as a result struggled to stay out of the penalty box. The Bobcats were called for seven penalties to the Falcons’ two, and still had 36 seconds of a penalty to kill when overtime started. There were no penalty whistles for the rest of overtime.

“The power-play disadvantage, obviously, put us on our heels a little bit,” Richard said. “We were forced to (penalty kill), which took some of our momentum away. It stresses your team to get through all that. And then to collapse in front of your own net, it’s kind of a disappointment.”